Marie of Blois, Countess of Boulogne

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Marie’s coat of arms as Countess of Boulogne; Credit – Wikipedia

A daughter of King Stephen of England, Marie of Blois was Countess of Boulogne in her own right after the deaths of her mother Matilda I, Countess of Boulogne in her own right and her two surviving brothers Eustace and Willliam who were both Count of Boulogne but had childless marriages. As a young girl, Marie entered a convent and became a nun. Shortly after Marie became Countess of Boulogne, she was abducted from her convent by a young nobleman and forced into marriage with the nobleman who then claimed the title of Count of Boulogne jure uxoris (by right of his wife).

Marie’s father King Stephen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Born in 1136, Marie was the fourth of the five children and the second but the only surviving daughter of Stephen I, King of England (born Stephen of Blois) and Matilda I, Countess of Boulogne in her own right. Boulogne was a county within the Kingdom of France from 896 – 1501, centered on the city of Boulogne-sur-Mer, a coastal city in Northern France. Marie’s paternal grandparents were Stephen II, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy and England, a daughter of William I, King of England (the Conqueror). His maternal grandparents were Eustace III, Count of Boulogne and Mary of Scotland, daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret of Scotland, born an Anglo-Saxon princess.

Marie had four siblings but only two brothers survived childhood:

The sinking of the White Ship; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1120, a terrible tragedy caused a succession crisis in England. The White Ship, carrying King Henry I of England’s only legitimate son William Ætheling, sank as it left France to sail to England, and William Ætheling was among the estimated 300 passengers who drowned. Empress Matilda was then King Henry I’s only legitimate child and on Christmas Day in 1126, Henry I had his barons swear to recognize his only surviving legitimate child Empress Matilda and any future legitimate heirs she might have as his successors.

On December 1, 1135, King Henry I of England died. His nephew, Marie’s father Stephen of Blois, quickly crossed over the English Channel from the County of Boulogne, now in France, to England, accompanied by his military household. With the help of his brother Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, Stephen seized power in England and was crowned King of England on December 22, 1135. However, Empress Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, leading to the long civil war known as The Anarchy between 1135 and 1153. After eighteen long years of war, Stephen and Henry FitzEmpress, the son of Empress Matilda and the future Henry II, King of England reached a formal agreement known as the Treaty of Wallingford. The treaty allowed King Stephen to keep the English throne until his death but forced him to recognize Empress Matilda’s son Henry FitzEmpress as his heir. Marie’s father King Stephen only survived until the next year, dying on October 25, 1154. A line of fourteen Plantagenet kings who ruled England until 1485 started, with Henry FitzEmpress, now King Henry II of England.

The original church built for the Priory of Lillechurch (now Higham; Credit – By St. Mary’s Church, Lower Higham by Roger Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=106871590

As a young girl, Marie was placed in a convent in Stratford, Middlesex, England. Marie’s parents established a new convent for her, the Priory of Lillechurch (now Higham) in Kent, England, which Marie entered as a novice. She later transferred to Romsey Abbey in Romsey, Hampshire, England which had been rebuilt by her paternal uncle Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester. Marie took her vows as a nun at Romsey Abbey and was elected Abbess of Romsey in 1155. Four years later, on October 11, 1159, her brother William died. As his marriage to Isabel de Warenne, 4th Countess of Surrey in her own right had been childless, Marie, his only surviving sibling, succeeded as Countess of Boulogne in her own right.

Matthew of Alsace was the second son of Thierry, Count of Flanders and Sibylla of Anjou, the paternal aunt of King Henry II of England. As his elder brother would succeed their father as Count of Flanders, the ambitious Matthew decided to get himself a title and the land that came with the title. In 1160, Matthew abducted Marie from Romsey Abbey and forced her to marry him despite her religious vows. Via the marriage, Mattew became jure uxoris (by right of his wife) Count of Boulogne, and her co-ruler.

The church reacted immediately. Pope Alexander III wrote to Henri of France, Archbishop of Reims (son of King Louis VI of France), and Matthew and Maria were excommunicated. In 1162, their excommunication was renewed and all the priests who supported the couple were also excommunicated. Finally, in 1168, an interdict was imposed on the people of the County of Boulogne, a punishment forbidding certain sacraments and prohibiting participation in certain religious rites. Only then did Marie and Matthew submit to the will of the church and separate.

Ida of Flanders, Countess of Boulogne, Marie and Matthew’s elder daughter; Credit – Wikipedia

However, Marie and Matthew had two daughters:

In 1169, the marriage of Marie and Matthew was annulled but Pope Alexander III legitimized their two daughters. Matthew remained in the County of Boulogne and retained the title Count of Boulogne until his death when he was succeeded by his elder daughter Ida as Countess of Boulogne in her own right. In 1171, Matthew married Eleanor, Countess of Vermandois in her own right. They had one short-lived daughter. Matthew, a supporter of Henry the Young King, the eldest surviving son of King Henry II of England, died in 1173, aged about 36, from a crossbow wound fighting at the Siege of Driencourt during the 1173 – 1174 revolt of King Henry II’s sons.

Marie returned to religious life as a nun at the Abbey of St. Austrebert near Montreuil-sur-Mer, County of Boulogne, where she died on July 25, 1182, at the age of about 46. She was buried at the Abbey of St. Austrebert.

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Works Cited

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